Pledging Her Allegiance
by Fullelven
Summary: This is a World of Warcraft fic Raineigh Dravenholdt may not be the most honorable person around, but when her thoughts fall to her fallen leader, Kael'thas Sunstrider, she realizes she would have done anything she could to save him.


There were few people Raineigh could admit to having ever _loved_. Most of them, even now, she would call it a fluke, say that she was mistaken and only thought she loved them. But there was one man that she could say she'd give her life for. One man that she believed could understand her, that she could trust. For all of the Sin'dorei who'd come and gone in her life, Kael'thas Sunstrider was the only man worthy of having the ability to melt that ice from her heart and return her to the girl she had once hoped to be.

Unfortunately, Kael'thas Sunstrider was dead and all she had of him were idol fantasies.

There was one fantasy in particular that plagued the Sin'dorei more often than she'd like to admit, one that she experienced many nights now since she'd been on her own. Sometimes, before she finally submitted to sleep, she'd toy with it, change the variables, see how far she could explore it before she nodded off.

Tempest Keep was majestic, and inwardly she applauded the technological abilities of the Draenei. It was impressive, even to her young and materialistic eyes. Netherstorm in its own had managed to win the Blood Elf's heart, but the entirety of the Keep and its annexes were unparalleled. Even moreso as she mounted the blue wyvern to depart from Cosmowrench for it.

She could feel the energy in the air, and for once she found herself at ease with the addiction in her veins. Though not like the concentrated energies of the Sunwell that she had once lavished in before its destruction, there was something more raw, and yet foreign in such a way that her pores ached to take it all in. Her eyes glazed slightly as she allowed the hunger to take over for a moment, before the alerting roar of her wyvern brought her to once more. They had landed.

"Greetings Archmage Dravenholdt, we've been awaiting your arrival," a large Blood Knight greeted her, and assisted her off her mount. She smiled at the courtesy, bowing her head to him in thanks and respect.

"Forgive my tardiness, it's been some time since I was last in Netherstorm. It isn't difficult for one to lose themselves amist the twisted terrain."

He waved off her apology, though it wasn't his approval that she was worried about. For months now, Raineigh had been fighting hard against the defected Sin'dorei that were once her brethren. She had foiled plans, informed on them, and killed large numbers of their soldiers in the name of the Scryers until a mysterious letter had found its way to her.

At first, Raineigh had been skeptical of any sort of meeting that the other side could have asked of her. But seeing the royal seal of the Sunstriders, and seeing her Prince's name scrawled across the bottom caused curiosity to override better judgment. Though she didn't agree with the things that had transpired, she knew better than anyone what it was like to have to do what no one else wanted you to for their own good. Sometimes, people didn't know any better. The masses could be ignorant and easily controlled, swayed even, given the right criteria.

That being said, she also knew that sometimes all it took was one person to change everything. Foolishly, the entertained the idea that she could be that one person. That perhaps she could change the Sun King's mind, that she could save him from the inevitable faith that would befall him should he continue this mission. Suddenly she stopped, her heart speeding up some as she chanced a thought that chilled her bones: the death of their beloved leader.

"Are you alright?"

"Huh?" She glanced up, having not realized that she had spaced off again. "Sorry, this...is so much to take in. It's a little hard to believe that I'm here, and as an esteemed guest."

The gruff looking man smiled, an expression that seemed strange on his warrior-esque features. "Prince Kael'thas watches many of our brothers and sisters. However, there are few that he reaches out to personally as he has yourself."

"I don't understand, though. Why me? I'm hardly special." The longer they walked throughout the halls of the Keep, the more her inner instinct began to ring out that something was off. Even with that, there was a certain amount of familiarity, of being _home_ that came along with being so near her Prince.

"You are a high ranking official and ambassador for the Remnants of Honor, are you not?"

She paused in her steps, watching him suspiciously. The last time someone had inquired about her guild standing, she ended up with a cursemark and being forced to run espionage on those who were her friends. "Yes, but-"

"Prince Kael'thas sees a rare quality within you. Namely, your loyalty to your friends, the strength it gives you. It's something he looks for within his recruits."

Raineigh chanced a step forward, watching as he turned to begin leading the way once more. "Re...cruits?"

Her head spun with the idea, but she had little time to contemplate the validity of it. They came to a large enclave, two armored guards on either side of the doorway. They exchanged a wordless greeting before her guide moved to the side. "The Sun King will see you now."

Her green eyes widened, the Fel fire that comprised her right eye glowing a bit brighter. She was to be meeting him alone? No advisors? No guards? No one to hear her scream...Cautious strides carried those tattered leather boots across the steel floor and into the private chambers of one Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider, hands brushing nervously at invisible specks of dirt on her navy and gold robes.

"Ah, Miss Dravenholdt, I see you finally made it."

Dumbly she fell-a little too eagerly-to one knee, her head bowed. Raven locks fell forward to hide her blush of surprise, though it had already crept onto her long ears. Words failed her. This was the man she'd idolized her entire life, the leader of their people. Her heart sped up once more.

"Arise, please. Let us skip the formalities. I asked you here as a guest, did I not?"

Hesitantly she arose, not looking him in the eyes. Suddenly she felt very unworthy, very out of place. Despite the fact that she had always respected him as a ruler, she had been working so diligently against him for so long without a single question to her orders. He, the man who had brought her here because of her loyalty, which had been shown only because of how _disloyal_ she'd been to him.

Irony at its finest, she could only imagine.

The blonde mage stepped around her, examining her as she stood there lost and a nervous wreck, though she did what she could to hide it. She'd yet to speak a word to him, and for some reason it amused him. He knew full well of the incursions that she'd lead against his forces. Hell, she'd been so victorious with them, it was hard for him not to have known her name. A little more digging after that, and he had found her colourful background that led to their meeting.

"At ease, you're not in trouble. I only wished to speak with you. Nothing more." A chuckle left those lips. Raineigh could feel her pulse in her ears.

"Forgive me, your Majesty. I am no noble. I fear I'm at a bit of a disadvantage here," she admitted finally, her voice sounding small to her ears. He found a place to lean his backside casually against his desk, arms crossed over his chest as he examined her still. She burned beneath his gaze, yearning to know what was going through his mind.

"The Dravenholdt House was once esteemed personal advisors to the Sunstriders. You don't consider yourself a Dravenholdt anymore?"

It was then she finally looked at him, her eyes lingering at a point just below his eyes. "I was exiled from my House a few years back. Most of them died during the march on the Sunwell. My brother who had survived was lost shortly after my exile to a guild matter."

"I'm sorry to hear that. These have been troubling times for us all. I hope to change that soon."

His words were sincere, or so she hoped, enough so that she boldly took a step forward. "You don't need to do this, my Prince. There are other ways to insure our survival. Silvermoon has been rebuilt, our people are surviving without the Sunwell. _Please..._"

What was she pleading with him for? What did she want? More importantly, what did she expect?

"You are an interesting creature, Raineigh Dravenholdt. I've been watching you for quite awhile," he began shifting his weight to the other foot. The look on his face was smug, yet impressed with something. "Voren'thal thinks you're his golden foot back into the favor of the Naaru. I will admit, you have humbled me a few times."

"If I may be so bold, your Majesty-"

"You've tried to derail me every step of the way, and yet you stand before me pleading."

"I am concerned! There are armies from all over Azeroth who'll see you burn for the things you've done here. The entirety of the Kirin'Tor could knock at your tomorrow for the injustices at Kirin'Var! Our people need a leader, and while the Regent-Lord is suitable, your death would set us back further than you can imagine. The people need their Prince on their side!" What was she so vehement about? It was a strange and empowering feeling, the confidence that rose within the younger mage then as she stood with her King.

"I never left them, it is they who abandoned me. I will save us yet-"

"Or you will die trying!" Raineigh interrupted before she could stop herself. "If there is one thing I can say I learned from the Remnants of Honor, it's that no one is beyond redemption. There are so many options, you could call all this off, return with me. We could explain everything."

He laughed heartily as if it was the most absurd thing he'd heard. "Go back? Give up everything we've accomplished? Raineigh, do you realize what all we have accomplished here? What all we hope to accomplish, and very soon will?"

"And what good will that do us with you dead?" She hadn't meant to yell, but when the reverberations of her own voice returned to her ears, she shrunk back as if she was ready to be struck. Only moments ago, she had been surprised to have been allowed to speak personally with the Sun King. Now she was yelling at him?

"Why is it that you keep up this charade that you care about my death when you've strived to bring it about yourself?" Was he...upset? Of course he was, wouldn't she have been in this situation, faced with the person who wanted her dead? But she didn't want him dead, that was the paradox. "You have your loyalties-"

"My loyalties are to my people first, as yours should be! Please, they're going to kill you. Why can't you see that?" Her vision blurred, a tear breaking past her lashes to slide down her cheek. His eyes narrowed for a moment, head cocking slightly to the side in response to her reaction.

"You...fear for my life? Do you worry about the fear of losing me, or what it would do to the Sin'dorei as a whole?" His voice was gentle now, careful of how he treaded here. He wanted an honest answer, not a forced one.

Raineigh didn't know how to answer that, however. "Aren't they synonymous?" she feinted.

"No, there's a great difference between personal fear, and a fear for others. One is ultimately selfish, while the other may be selfless." She could see him calculating behind those bright green eyes of his, and in the following silence, she was sure she could hear the gears turning. "Why did you come here?"

Why did she? "Because you summoned me, my Prince."

He shook his head, closing the distance between them so that he could stare down his nose at her. Those eyes felt like they were staring straight into her very soul. She squirmed. "Don't play coy. Why did _you_? What did you think you could accomplish by coming, obviously you wanted something."

There was a long pause, she felt like she couldn't breathe. He'd find her a fool if she answered how her heart said, but unfortunately her head had no better options. Silence? That could only work for so long. "To save you." Her voice was barely audible.

Perhaps he had heard her, but he took her pointed chin between his thumb and forefinger, gently bringing her tear-stricken eyes to meet his. "_Why?"_

Her lip quivered. Was it from the tears, or fear? "Because I wanted to save you." Her voice was only a touch louder then, reflecting the fact that she felt about three inches tall before the man. Then he did something she hadn't expected. He smiled.

"Then I must ask again, to who does your allegiance belong?"

"Y-you." Look at her! Raineigh Dravenholdt, reduced to the stuttering school girl that she was when she'd first joined Remnants of Honor. And she thought she had been lost a long time ago.

"Prove it."

She blinked. "I, I don't understand. Prove?"

"You cannot expect me to just take your word, I need a promise. I pledge of your loyalty to me. You've hit my forces hard in the past, I need reassurance that you truly are on my side." He let go of her chin then, and she knelt before him, her head bowed.

"I, Raineigh Ceridwen Dravenholdt, pledge my allegiance to you Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider."

"Hmm..." She chanced a look up at him and he shook his head. "Not good enough. I don't buy it."

"Then what more can I do?" The tears on her cheeks were drying now, though the tanned skin was flushed pink still. He knelt before her, his face seeming painfully close to hers. A sensation, an _urge_ washed over her then that she hadn't felt for awhile. It took her a moment to even recognize it for what it really was. Longing. She knew how she could prove to him, but such a thing...no. Especially not from exiled nobility to a prince!

His smile betrayed that he knew what she might have been thinking, but she brushed it off as brutal irony. "I think you know very well."

She could feel his breath on her lips. He was whispering, but his voice echoed through her lithe frame.

"I, I don't..." she protested once more, her voice sounding feeble. Those verdant spheres circled him, though now was the first time she'd really noticed them. She could feel the magic wafting off from them, hear the delicate buzz of them throbbing. Raineigh felt ill, her eyes glazed. She was slipping...she needed to get out of there.

"Raineigh..."

There was heaven in the way he spoke her name. Her pulse raced, her palms sweat, and now her head swam with hunger. No. She had to get away from him. "I'm sorry." She stood up, chest heaving in her duress as she started to bolt for the door. Kael'thas was quicker than her, grabbing her wrist and holding fast. A pulse of energy left her body, and her core ached.

"Don't be ashamed of your addiction. It plagues us all, it makes us who we are." He cupped her cheek. "I know your struggle, Raineigh. I can end it. You said you're here to help me, to save me? Then let me help you!"

"How?" Her fingers tingled, her skin ached. She wanted what he had, that magic, that power. She could smell it now.

Kael'thas pulled her to her feet gently, brushing the backs of his fingers down her cheek. "Pledge your allegiance."

If someone had told Raineigh she'd be standing there, kissing the Prince of the Sin'dorei, when she woke up this morning...oh ho ho, she would have called them crazy. Yet here she stood, his hand gently under her chin, his soft lips moving against hers rhythmically, and her hunger was gone! She could feel the magic flowing freely from him, mingling with her own magical essence before feeding her addiction.

Timidly, her hands chanced moving into that thick blonde hair of his, holding him to her as they kissed. He tasted like salvation wrapped up in soft, pale skin. Kael'thas continued to surprise her as he deepened it, tongue teasing her bottom lip to allow him entrance.

She knew this was wrong, but why? He was the savior of their people, or so she wanted to believe. She wanted to believe that she could save him from the darkness that he'd become. If she couldn't, then who could say that she could be redeemed?

"Learn to take what you want. Confidence is key, you see? No one follows those who're not sure of themselves. It implies weakness, most people want to believe their ruler is indestructible." He leaned into her tapered ear, his breath hot against the flesh. "What is it that you want?"

Raineigh swallowed hard, reached a hand up against his shaven cheek and tapping a bit of his mana away. She gasped, closed her eyes, and swooned there where she stood. She'd never tasted anything like it. His magical essence was primal with just a hint of cinnamon. Gruffly, he brought his own lips crashing back down upon hers, this time capturing them greedily. There was something intoxicating about it all, be it the kiss, just being here, or flirting with danger as she were.

Adrenaline flushed through her veins with the magic she stole again from him, he willing to give it to her. Raineigh felt that perhaps he wasn't lying. Perhaps he did understand what she went through more than anyone else had. He wasn't afraid of her, he wanted her to be proud.

_The addiction isn't a weakness, it's part of who you are. _

Kael'thas broke their kiss, his lips traveling to that throbbing pulse point in her neck, nipping at it as he made quick work of the cloth shoulderpads...

The morning sun broke through her window, arising her from her sleep and bringing her back to her dismal reality. She wasn't in Tempest Keep with Kael'thas, she was in an inn within Silvermoon City and alone. She was no longer a mage, but forced into the duty of a common warrior.

Raineigh wasn't the savior of her people, but the bane of many of their existences. At least, that's how she saw herself. Once again, she was a nobody with no one to save, no one to be with, no one to tell her it was okay to be who she was. Prince Kael'thas was dead, and their hopes of a new Sunwell were thwarted.

Splashing cold water into her face, she looked into the mirror only to find a faint red mark where her pulse resided within her neck. With a smile, she shook her head and dried off. What wouldn't she give for a chance to pledge her allegiance to him, her one true King?


End file.
